Sanitation board to vote on tunneling under Santa Clara River

File Photo. The Santa Clara Riverbed is seen near the Iron Horse Trail on Monday, April 2, 2018. Nikolas Samuels/The Signal
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Local sanitation officials want to drill a tunnel under the Santa Clara River that would accommodate a “relief sewer” pipeline, but first they need to analyze the watershed, and on Monday, hope to get approval to pay someone to do the analysis.

On Monday, at 11:30 a.m., members of the Santa Clarita Valley Sanitation District board are scheduled to meet at the Santa Clarita City Hall. The meeting is open to the public.

Board members are expected to vote on a recommendation to pay engineers in Fountain Valley about $73,400 to do the analysis.

The civil engineering firm they want to hire is called, Pacific Advanced Civil Engineering or PACE, which specializes in coming up with “unique” engineering solutions to water challenges.

On its website, the company defines itself as “offering advanced water resource services by applying knowledge, creativity and innovative design approaches to develop aesthetic, environmentally sustainable and practical engineering solutions.”

Specifically, the firm would be paid to come up with a design for installing a pipeline under the river.

“The project will likely involve installing a 2-foot diameter sewer pipe under the river using a ‘trenchless technology.’  The best technology will be selected based on the results of the study mentioned in the agenda,” Brian Langpap, spokesman for the SCV Sanitation District, said Friday afternoon.

Trenchless technology refers to subsurface construction and could include a variety of tunneling methods.

Sanitation officials say they need the analysis done before they start drilling.

“The hydraulic analysis will be used to determine the potential for erosion at the river bottom and establish the design depth of the proposed sewer at the river crossing,” according to the recommendation put before board members.

Hydraulic analysis means looking at the technology needed to measure, analyze and investigate such aspects of the Santa Clara River as water current, water quantity and water pressure.

Board members were reminded in the recommendation that PACE has done similar work on the Santa Clara River in the past.
[email protected]  661-287-5527 On Twitter @jamesarthurholt

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